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LRC The Week That Was In Running: January 23-29, 2012 This week, we start by showing how a single marathon in Dubai surpassed the entire history of US marathoning, we analyze Haile G's chances for London 2012, praise Cam Levins and Nick Symmonds, wonder if Lawi Lalang can medal in London, mark the return of Stephen Sambu and recap the greatest blowup at the 2012 US Olympic Trials Marathon.
Japan's Yuki Sato Says He Wants Japanese Record For 10,000 This Year The record is 27:35.09 and his PR is 27:38.25.

NCAA News

• Andrew Valmon Talks To NCAA About How His Fundraising Efforts Are Going As He Tries To Save Maryland Track Program They need to raise $4.2 million.
• Oregon Women Cement #1 Ranking After Fine Showing At Texas A&M

We Agree 100% But Still Don't Think He Should Be Allowed In The Olympics
Seb Coe Says Oscar P Is Big-Time Star Who Brings Lots Of Publicity To Track & Field

Ukhov Tops 2.32m In Trinec

Stephanie Brown Trafton Profile: Track & Field's "best kept secret"

Europe's Version Of BALCO?

28 Athletes From Around The Globe Implicated In German Doping Scandal link fixed A Dr. who worked at the Olympic training center is believed to have treated athletes' blood with UV light before re-injecting it. 3 Time Olympic/WC silver medallist in long jump James Beckford of Jamaica is one of athletes in probe, as are many German cyclists.
*Doc Denies Claims, Says Blood Was Treated To Stop Infections

More Olympic Logo Madness? We Kind Of Like It Except For The Mistake

Madrid Being Ridiculed For 2020 Olympic Logo As It Looks Like 20020 That's nothing compared to the oral sexual act that is actually being used for 2012 London.

*Competing Doha 2020 Logo To Come Out On Feb. 10

News From Jamaica

• Thanks To Usain Bolt, Gatorade Sales Are Going Through The Roof In Jamaica
• Robertson Twins Take Note: White Norwegian Sprinter Is Enjoying Life And Training In Jamaica

1956 1,500 World Record Holder Istvan Rozsavolgyi From Hungary (3:40.6) Dies At Age 82

Pro Action: US Open *US Open Results *LRC Photo Gallery

US Open: LRC Silas Kiplagat Over Lagat, Asafa Powell Is Back, So Are Lolo Jones And Terrence Trammell World Champs silver medallist Silas Kiplagat used a burst of speed over the final lap to turn back Bernard Lagat in the mile at MSG. Asafa Powell and Veronica Campbell Brown looked good in the 50s, Terrence Trammell upset David Oliver in the hurdles, Lolo Jones came back from injury, World Champ Jesse Williams opened higher than he did in 2011, Brenda Martinez won the mile (and Anna Pierce was well-beaten), and a MSG high school record was set in the mile.

• LRC 52 Thoughts On The ESPN2 Broadcast If a tree falls in a forest, is there a sound? If a track meet is not on TV, does it exist? Who cares, as the US Open was on ESPN2 last night and we analyze the coverage.
• NY Times: Williams Rules High Jump In New Meet At The Garden
• AP Recap Of US Open: Lolo Jones, Powell, Kiplagat Win
• Latest Millrose Reaction: Jesse Williams Starts Off Well, Jenn Suhr No-Heights But Is Confident
• Nesta Carter - The Forgotten Sprinter In Jamaica Is Feeling Good About 2012 He's run 9.78 and may not make the team. Thinking of that made us think of what happens if Bolt is 4th at the Jamaican Trials.
• Asafa Powell Says He Will No Longer Miss Training Sessions
  
  Osaka: Risa Shigetomo Wins In 2:23:23 As Fukushi Fades Hard to believe that is the fastest time by a Japanese woman since 2007. What has happened to the Japanese women?
  
  Glasgow: Latest: Charles Van Commenee On Mo Farah: "He's the world champion and there are no weaknesses."
• Andy Turner's Achilles Problem Seems Serious; He May Get A 2nd Injection
• Mo Farah's 3:39 Edges Augustine Choge A good start to the season for Mo. Hannah England got pipped at the line. *Results *Message Board Thread
  
  Kenya: Unheralded Edwin Kipyego Upsets Emmanuel Mutai & Others At Stacked Eldoret Half Marathon In Kenya
  
  Jamaica: Sherone Simpson Runs 51.42, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Runs 55.72 In 400s In Jamaica
  
  Australia: Adelaide Recap: Ryan Gregson Outkicks Jeff Riseley, Steve Hooker Struggles
  
  UW: Husky Invite Results 8:47 3k for Sally Kipyego, Cam Levins comes back with 7:48 day after 13:42 5k, Andrew Bumbalough 3:58 mile, Tegenkamp 4:03, Geena Gall 4:34.
  
  More Pro
• Reese Hoffa Has World-Leading 21.87 Shot In Chemnitz, Germany
• World Champ Anna Chicherova Goes 6'6.75" To Beat Olympic Champ Tia Hellebaut In Hellebaut's Return To Competition After Birth Of 2nd Child
• France: Felix Sanchez Runs 49.74 To Miss His World Indoor Record By .01 In 400m Hurdles

Latest Dubai News *LRC Recap *Results *MB Talk *Men's Km-By-Km Splits

• Agent Gianni Demadonna And Coach Renato Canova Give Thoughts On Dubai Marathon
• Close, But No Cigar: Lucy Kabuu's 2:19:34 Leaves Her 3 Seconds Short Of $250,000 And Won't Put Her On Kenyan Team She's the second-fastest Kenyan ever but the Kenyan coaches say they won't put her on the team.
• Aselefech Mergia's 2nd-Straight Dubai Win Has Netted Her $500,000
• S. Africa's 39-Year-Old Hendrick Ramaala's 2:12:12 Makes Him First S. African To Qualify For Olympics

Osaka Is Sunday: All eyes on Fukushi as Japanese Olympic squad selection continues in Osaka - PREVIEW

US Distance Guys & Gal Making News

• Fox Sports: Past his prime? Abdirahman just keeps running Abdi says the doubters fueled him to the team. Thankfully, LRC was one of the few who knew Abdi had a good chance. "There were some people who said, 'This guy has no chance of making the Olympic team.' They said, 'Oh, Abdi's done.' Even leading up to the Olympic Trials, there were only a few people who believed in me. I was a dark horse."
• Ritz Shows Up To Name Zeinasellassie Gatorade National Boys Cross-Country Runner Of The Year
• New Dad Aaron Braun Hoping To Win 1st XC Title At USAs Next Month
• Shannon Rowbury, Andrew Osagie Join Ricky Simms' PACE Sports Management

News From Japan And Ethiopia

From Ethiopia:
*Bekele "played big part" in Ethiopian federation revoking ban "There was a big meeting at the federation headquarters in Addis Ababa early in the week involving all the athletes and coaches, and Kenenisa played a major part in the discussions. He was the athlete who had most to say on the different issues."
*Reason Why We Don't Have A LRC Ethiopia *Ethiopia: Life sentence for blogger, prison for journalists

From Japan:
*Feb. 26th Tokyo Marathon Elite Field Finalized - Haile Gebrselassie Headlines Geb is one 8 sub-2:08 guys in the field.
*5th Placer At Worlds, Yukiko Akabais, On Tokyo List But May Run Nagoya Olympic Qualifying Race If Other Women Put Her Olympic Spot In Jeopardy In Osaka This Weekend

Giving A Trophy To Every Little Kid Is Bad, But We're Not Sure If This Is The Solution
Usain Bolt Can Relate 8-Year-Olds Brought To Tears In NZ As Track & Field's No-False-Start Rule Is Enforced Strictly In Local 60m Sprint "(My 8-year-old) was just a bit unbalanced and was disqualified ... she had been pretty keen to run that race and it was absolutely gutting for her. It didn't make me angry, but it made me feel very sad for her. I think the rule is a bit too heavy-handed for the babies, shall we say."

News From The UK

• Paula Radcliffe Says Her Big Race Of Spring Will Be OMV Vienna Half Marathon On April 15th
• British HJer Robbie Grabarz Says UK Was Right In Cutting His Lottery Funding After Miserable 2011, Now He's On Top Of World Rankings Thanks To #4 Jump In British History Conservatives will love this guy's no-nonsense approach. "It's a performance sport and I didn't perform, so why should they support me?"
• London Organizers Expecting Drug Cheats To Come To 2012 Games "To say there will be no positive cases would be naive and misleading."
• Michael Johnson Tells Brits How To Succeed At Home Olympic Games
• Govt. Perverts Officials Have Bought Twice As Many Beach Volleyball Tickets As Track & Field
• Jessica Ennis Stars In British Airways In-Flight "Wellbeing" Video
• West Ham United "will not submit formal bid" For Olympic Stadium By Deadline
• Kenya Planning To Spend $5 Million Marketing Itself During London 2012

Good & Bad News From Ethiopia

• The Good: After Apology, Bekele & Others Have Suspensions Lifted The Ethiopian federation is still acting like they are in charge: "They [the athletes] have pledged to respect the body's directives from now on."
  *AP: Bekele & 34 Others Cleared
• And The Bad: After Recent Attack, Media Asks: "Will Eritrea and Ethiopia go back to war?"

Crazy NRR Link Of The Day: Shark Seen Swimming Just Meters Away From Ironwomen Triathletes

Lagat Vs. The Collegians

Strong Field Set For Millrose 5,000m, As American, NCAA And HS Records All Could Go Down Bernard Lagat will be taking on the best collegians as he goes for Galen Rupp's American Indoor record of 13:11.44, while NCAA XC Champ Lawi Lalang, Elliot Heath, Leonard Korir and Chris Derrick will try to break Rupp's collegiate record (13:18.12). At the same time, Edward Cheserek will take a shot at Lukas V's 14:06.78 HS record (it's time we started recognizing high school records by Americans). Sam Chelanga and a slew of top international runners will also be in the field. *RRW Article

Don't Forget This Saturday: Bernard Lagat Vs. Silas Kiplagat Vs. Dan Komen In The Mile At Madison Square Garden One of the best indoor miles in the US in a long time. Kiplagat was world silver medallist last year. This announcement didn't get the attention it deserved.

Ethiopia's Track Federation Plans To Lift The Suspension On Kenenisa Bekele

This Weekend:
*Olympic PV Champ Steve Hooker Opening Season At Adelaide Track Classic
*2008 Olympic Marathon Champ Constantina Dita Vs. 2004 Champ Mizuki Noguchi At Sunday's Osaka Int'l Women's Marathon This race is used as one of the selection races for Japan's Olympic team.

The Big Interview: Dathan Ritzenhein

LRC Ritz Reflects On The Trials, His Years With Alberto, And Looks To The Future 24 hours after Dathan Ritzenhein just missed making the 2012 the Olympic Marathon team, a frank but more upbeat Ritz sat down and talked with LetsRun.com. He looked back on the Trials race ("I ran pretty good. It just was not enough.") and back on the last three years with Alberto ("He is a very smart, very passionate guy more than anything. He will find the way." and "There's been many times when we've screwed up.") before looking ahead to both the immediate future ("The Olympics is everything.") and farther down the road ("I do love the marathon, but I think I love being good better ... I want to succeed at what I'm going to be best at."). A confident Ritz has big plans for the future. A must read (or watch) if we can say so ourselves. Plus we give you splits of the last 3.2 miles in Houston.

Sunday XC Action *Good Recap Of Weekend XC

• EAA Review Of European Weekend XC Action Kenya's 2k steeple World Youth champ Conseslus Kipruto wins in Hannut as Belgium's SPAR Euro XC champ Atelaw Bekele only finished 5th.
• World Half Marathon Champ Wilson Kiprop Wins Over Deep Field In Discovery Kenya XC Meet Geoffrey Mutai and 3rd all-time half marathoner Matthew Kisorio were a close 2-3, while Asbel Kiprop ran with the lead group before fading to 8th place. Joyce Jepkurui won the women's race over Priscah Jeptoo. After this, Wilson Kiprop says he's looking to make Kenya's Olympic 10k team.
• World XC Silver Medallist Paul Tanui Wins Spain XC Meet He won over World XC Jr. Champ Geoffrey Kipsang and 2008 World XC silver medallist Leonard Komon. Ethiopia's Wude Ayalew Yimer won the women's race.

London Marathon Goes To Iten

Virgin London Marathon, Which Made 2012 Athlete Announcements In Kenya, Is Giving Back To Iten, Eldoret Communities

LRC Photo Of The Day: Virgin London Marathon Fields Announced From Iten, Kenya We didn't realize London was in Iten to announce its 2012 fields. Very cool.

Yesterday: London Does It Again Emmanuel Mutai To Try To Defend London Title Against World Record Holder Patrick Makau & Slew Of Other Top African Talent

Bring Back The Mile Officially Launches For years, we (and many in the sport) have wondered why the mile isn't the #1 distance event in the land and why it's not run instead of the 1,500 or 1,600. Finally, someone has decided to do something about it.
*Bringing Buzz Back To The Mile *Discuss *Like On Facebook

Recommended Read: NY Times Article On Australia's LJer Mitchell Watt, Who Quit Track For 5 Years But Came Back And Got 2nd At The World Champs Apparently he was convinced to keep competing by a "12 page email" from his coach.

US Men's Olympic Trials Marathon News *LRC Vote Totals *Men's Results *Women's Results *Mile-By-Mile Splits *Yahoo Flash Photos *LRC Puma Prediction Contest Scores Coming

LRC Men's Marathon Trials Analysis And Reaction The 2012 Trials race was a classic. We throw some love to the top 3, ponder Ritz's future in the marathon, tell you who had the best debut, and tell you who that guy you never heard of was. Plus we talk about Meb's 74-year-old badass dad and look at the fortune of some old timers who didn't make the team, Josh Cox and Dan Browne, in addition to the ones who did (Meb and Abdi).

Sunday Update: 24-Hours-Later Update On Ritz: "I do love the marathon, but I think I love being good better." Ritz indicated he still loves the marathon and is not done with it. He also said, "I ran pretty good yesterday."

Race Recap: Meb Keflezighi Captures 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon Title

NY Times Recap: Meb Over Hall, Abdi Grabs 3rd Spot The race lived up to the billing as the top four all broke 2:10, whereas previously there had only been one sub-2:10 in OTM history. After a blistering first half (63:25), Meb Keflezighi got his 2nd PR in 69 days, as he ran 2:09:08 to win over Hall (2:09:30). A resurgent Abdirahman (2:09:47) hung on for the final Olympic spot in 2:09:47 over Ritzenhein, who broke 2:10:00 for the first time (2:09:55). In the process, Meb became the first American to make an Olympic marathon team 8 years after making it previously. Abdi had no idea until we talked to him that Martin Fagan, whom he trained with some this winter, had reportedly tested positive for EPO.
LRC Trials Live Thread Here
Trials On The Boards:

• Ritz's 4th place a blessing in disguise?
• Surprises from the Trials
• Will Deena Kastor retire now?
• Will Trafeh ever finish a marathon?

Lance And LIVESTRONG

Outside Magazine Article Accuses LIVESTRONG Foundation "If Lance Armstrong went to jail and Livestrong went away, that would be a huge setback in our war against cancer, right? Not exactly, because the famous nonprofit donates almost nothing to scientific research." *MB: Livestrong expose in Outside magazine

Patrick Makau Reacts To Renato Canova's Comments That His WR Will Be Broken This Spring Makau: "It makes me wonder if the record is a preserve for some region, tribe or runners. What shocks me is that some people are speaking ill of me just because I broke the world record ... Let us not talk much but redeploy our energies on good training and skills that will power our legs to do the talking."

The Running Story Of The Year

Japan Running News Recaps The Life And Career Of Sammy Wanjiru Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita: "The people who were supporting Sam were only motivated by the money flowing around him, not from the heart, and they didn't give him the kind of support he really needed. You hear a lot of disturbing things about his family too, his wife, and I can't help but think that he should have had more people around him who cared about his soul."

2011 NCAAs Are History *Men's Results *Women's Results *Entire Race Video Replays

Men: LRC Wisconsin Badgers Take Control Early As Lawi Lalang Dominates Lawi Lalang waited until 5k before deciding it was time to crush the competition once and for all, while #1 Wisconsin showed no fear and put a stranglehold on the competition from the very beginning and held off a belated charge from Oklahoma State and a surprising Colorado team as the Cowboys tried to three-peat. American Chris Derrick took home individual runner-up honors to cap a brilliant career in style. *Discuss

More: Wisco #1: *Give 'em five: Badgers lay claim to program's fifth national title *Krause earns redemption as Badgers storm to fifth national title host.madison.com
OSU #2: *Dave Smith Calls Loss "Disappointing" - But Expected www.okstate.com
Colorado #3: *Wetmore Calls Medina Most Improved Runner In Country www.denverpost.com *CU Coach Mark Wetmore Pleased With Buffs 3rd-Place Run
Individual: Coach Li - I Think Lalang Would Have Got Course Record If He Was Pushed www.arizonawildcats.com

US-Based Distance News

• Rust-Buster Or Denial?
  Despite Strugles At US Open, Anna Pierce Still Dreaming Big For 2012 Hoping To Get 1,500 "A" Standard Indoors Some might be surprised that given at this point she's a longshot to make the 1,500 team, she says that while she may run a steeple or 800 outdoors, the 1,500 is her event at the Trials. "Even if I broke the world record in the steeple I think I would still run the 1,500m."
• Morgan Uceny To Run Millrose Games 800 At Armory The release talks about the great Millrose 800 of 1990. To us, that's kind of like the Indianapolis Colts talking about the great games they had in Baltimore. It's a good matchup with Maggie Vessey.
• A Brief Chat With Stony Brook's Lucy Van Dalen She'll be running the "Metric Mile" at Millrose, proving that the Bring Back The Mile movement makes sense.
• Salazar Says His Group Is Training Great At Altitude In Albuquerque - Wants Ritz To Race US Cross On Feb. 11th Amazingly, Salazar says Ritz is already completely recovered from the OTrials and that he wants him to keep running and he'll race US Cross on Feb. 11th. He says Irish import Ciaran O'Lionaird has "been a good help to Galen with his speed."

David Rudisha To Open Season With 400 On Feb 18 And 800 On March 3rd In Australia

Hurdlers In The News

• Meanwhile, American Collegians Transfer At The Drop Of A Hat
  Cuban Hurdler Robles Criticizes Training Conditions In Cuba But Vows To Do Best He Can For His Country
• Recommended Read David Oliver Is Modern Day Pen-Pal (Video-Pal) For Group Of 5th Graders In New York He works for Classroom Champions - a seemingly great organization. More info on the group here: *Classroom Champions Video
  More On John Coghlan's Sub-4 He's been hanging out in Providence with the other Irish lads and will run Millrose this weekend.

Good/Bad News
Millrose Games To Be Broadcast Live On YouTube Sports The major part of the meet goes from 6:45 pm to 10 pm ET on Saturday. Tim Hutchings will commentate. The good news is people can watch it live and for free. The bad news is it's no longer on national TV live for the first time in 5 years. (Earlier we said it was going to be on tape delay tv as well but are trying to confirm that)

*LRC 6 Thoughts On Millrose Being On YouTube

More Post-Weekend Collegiate-Related News

• Eamonn Coghlan's Son Goes Sub-4 For 1st Time
• Coach Li Says Lawi Lalang Lost Concentration Or He Would Have Gotten Collegiate Record In The Mile "He lost concentration for a bit but overall it was a great race by him, a huge personal best and he beat some really good runners."
• So Sick: Minnesota Teammates Harun Abda And David Pachuta Both Ran 1:46 Over The Weekend Start the petition now. They need to go to Penn Relays to take on PSU and UVA.
• Nittany Lions Cas Loxsom And Robby Creese Run 1:48s
  *With 3 Freshmen, PSU DMR Ran 9:35 Night Before The new collegiate record holder in the 1,000m, Creese, "only" ran 4:01.

Sunday's Latest News (We Almost Kept The Alan Webb Fall Up Top For Those Of You Who Have Lives Over The Weekend)

Sanya Richards-Ross 23.18 / 51.45 Double (Full Weekend Track Recap From Athletics Weekly) World leaders in both, as she seemed confident pre-race to have put her problems behind her. Up next - the Super Bowl, where her husband Aaron Ross will play for the Giants.

Good, But Not That Good? High Schooler Marvin Bracy Runs (Or False Starts?) To 6.08 At 55 Meters It's a national record and would almost have beaten Asafa Powell at the US Open. Bracy is a stud (ran w-a 10.05 last year), but some people, including us, at first glance thought that this excellent video shows a false start. But an emailer points out you see smoke before Bracy moves. Thanks to MBoarders in this thread for alerting us to the video.

LRC Legend Yuki Kawauchi Runs Amateur Ekiden For His Municipal Team And Moves Them From 84th Place To 66th On Final Leg

Moravian High Jump Tour Aleksey Dmitrik Nearly Breaks Russian Record, Chaunte Lowe Is Back From Child Rearing With 2nd Place At 1.93

Saturday College Meets/Alan Webb *Arkansas Results *Terrier *UW *Glasgow Results *More College Results

LRC Alan Webb Falls In 800 At George Mason In Comeback Race #2 link fixed Alan stumbled coming off the final turn and hit the track but still got up in finished in 1:59. He was on 1:53-high pace before the fall.

Arkansas: Latest: Coach Li Says Lawi Lalang Was After Collegiate Record In Mile But Lost Concentration A Bit When He Ran 3:55

• NCAA XC Champ Lawi Lalang Runs 3:55.09, German Fernandez Runs 4:05 (Thread) Lalang just missed Fernandez's own NCAA record of 3:55.02 which he ran 3 years ago as a freshman. This must be the year the NCAA mile record finally catches up to the times, as David McCarthy ran 3:55.7 at BU today and Diego Estrada ran a converted 3:55. Tony Waldrop ran 3:55 in 1974.
• Full Arkansas Results Defending NCAA champ Elliott Heath beat teammate Chris Derrick by .04 to win the 3k in 7:50. More below.
  
  Texas A&M: Jordan Hasay Runs 4:37 To Edge her Teammate Becca Friday, Trevor Dunbar Runs 4:06 To Win Mile Day After 4:00 Anchor On DMR
• Texas A&M Results (Joey Roberts 1:47.14 800m World Leader) A&M is starting to make some noise in the middle distances.
  
  Boston: Terrier Classic Results (David McCarthy 3:55.74 Win, Leonard Korir 7:54 3k)
  
  Friday:
  LRC Indiana: Andy Bayer Gets The Win With A 3:58.23 Mile And Says He May Triple At NCAAs With the 3,000m last, why not give it a shot? Bayer said, "I think I'm in better shape than last year ..." Results, race video and interview with Bayer.
  
  A&M Day 1: Jordan Hasay 4:35 split to open season
• Oregon's Brianne Theisen Breaks 30-Year-Old Canadian Pentathlon Record
  
  UW Day 1: Cam Levins 13:42.90 5k *Live Results

New Zealand: Will Leer's 3:58.45 Defeats Nick Willis 3:58.81 Results and race video. New Zealand is 16 hours ahead of the US, so the race is over. Pretty amazing 50 years later Snell's mark still stands.
*MBoard Thread

Don't Know Peter Snell? Recommended Read: Running Times Feature: Peter Snell: Gentleman, Athlete, Scholar

Yesterday Dubai *LRC Recap *Results

LRC Hello World, Meet Ayele Abshero (2:04:23 Debut!) The 21-year-old former Jr. World XC champ's marathon debut was super-special, as his surge with just over 3km remaining decimated the deepest marathon field in history, as four men broke 2:05 in the race, eight broke 2:06, 10 broke 2:07, and 17 broke 2:10 - all records as fastest-ever times for places were recorded in spots three through 17. 2011 belonged to the Kenyan men, will 2012 belong to Ethiopia? The women's race was super-fast and super-deep as well, as 3 women broke 2:20 in the same race for the 1st time, as Aselefech Mergia ran 2:19:31 to win and a record 9 women broken 2:25. Martin Lel was a DNF, Ramaala 2:12. *AP
*Butcher: Ethiopians Strike Back
*MB: 4 guys I've never heard of go sub 2:05 in Dubai

Pre-Race RR: Renato Canova Previewed The Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, Lel And Merga Vs. The Field

Getting Ready For NYC This Weekend And Boston Next Weekend

• IAAF Preview Of Saturday's US Open Meet At MSG (with schedule)
• AFP Preview Of US Open: Powell, Campbell-Brown Lead NY Meet
• What About The Sport?
  Tirunesh Dibaba, Meseret Defar, Silas Kiplagat, Shannon Rowbury Join New Balance Indoor Grand Prix Fields Organizers think this year's fields might be the greatest in meet history. They definitely are very good but we must ask, "What about the sport?" It's ridiculous that Dibaba is in the 2-mile and Defar (and Rowbury) in the 3k. Defar, Jenny Simpson and Rowbuy in 3k is great, as is Centro Jr., Gebremeskel, and Komen in men's 3k. Editor's note: The NBIGP is an advertiser on LetsRun.
• What About The Sport II?
  Link fixed NY Catholic Schools Pull Longer Relays Out Of Millrose
  Irate at the Armory's "slap in the face" (without telling them, the Armory scheduled the Big East meet for the weekend the Catholics normally hold their Intersectional champs), the Catholic schools are running all of their longer relays at MSG (US Open), not the Armory. Seems like the kids would want to run in MSG anyway. Good to hear a CHSAA official who is a consultant to the Armory say, "we felt it was important to support the US Open in New York City."

Sprint News

• 9.88 Man Ryan Bailey Relocates To Southern California At Nike's Orders
• Don't Count On It Athletes competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games will be exempt from income tax - a move which might persuade top talent, such as Jamaica's Usain Bolt to compete
• Despite Finishing 4th In Daegu, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Hoping To Be 3rd Woman To Repeat As 100m Champ
• A Justified Lawsuit 22-Year-Old Swiss Sprinter Sues Doctor After Being Mistakenly Injected With Nandrolene Instead Of Cortisone
  
  
• More Doping News: New study reveals that over two per cent of athletes admit current banned substance use Not a big surprise to us. What percent of the 20-30 population smokes dope?

Wejo Speaks: LRC What About The Sport? Wejo, an outspoken critic of Millrose Games moving to the Armory, says don't celebrate USATF sticking it to Millrose. Celebrate the sport being on ESPN.

Be Inspired By These Two Olympic Trials Breakthrough Performers

• Recommended Read! The Ultimate Blue-Collar Runner: Meet Jimmy Grabow - The Guy With A Full-Time Job Who Ran 2:12:29 At The Trials In His First Marathon If this piece doesn't inspire you, then we don't know what will. The guy gets up every day at 5:30 and bangs out 15 miles + a core workout before going to a real 40-hour/week job before running 5 more miles after work.
  *MB: Jimmy Grabow - The Ultimate Blue Collar Runner Do you know about the blue collar or yuppie debate - it's one of the greatest in LRC history.
• 5 Minutes With Alissa McKaig She PRed by 5+ minutes to finish 8th at the OTrials in 2:31.

Big Names In The News

*Achilles Surgery Does In Blanka Vlašić's Indoor Season Before It Even Begins

*LaShawn Merritt Gets Huge USA Today Profile: "I don't go near the Internet anymore."

*Leo Manzano Is Training At Altitude In Mexico

USATF Sticks It To Millrose
Arkansas Will Once Again Host Visa Championship Series Meet - The USATF Classic Will Take Place Same Day As Millrose And Be Broadcast On ESPN A stellar field has been assembled, as Galen Rupp will run the men's 2 mile, Silas Kiplagat and Leo Manzano will battle in the men's mile, world champ Kirani James will run the 400m, American record holder and World Outdoor bronze medalist Jillian Camarena-Williams and USA Outdoor champion Michelle Carter will battle in the shot put, Shawn Crawford, Richard Thompson and Churandy Martina will run in the men's 60m, and world champion Brittney Reese, Olympic medalist Hyleas Fountain, Marshevet Hooker and Funmi Jimoh are in the women's long jump. Full fields and more stars will be announced soon but we think this is as a development worth celebrating and hence the picture.

Wejo Speaks: LRC What About The Sport? Wejo, an outspoken critic of Millrose Games moving to the Armory, says don't celebrate USATF sticking it to Millrose. Celebrate the sport being on ESPN.

Don't Write Her Off Just Quite Yet
Recommended Read After Falling Off The Map In 2011, Anna Pierce Is Talking Big At Start Of 2012 As She's Hoping To Get The AR In The 1k In Boston. Pierce, who had a disastrous 2011, talks big about 2012 as she's figured out what caused the 3:59 runner to only run 4:10 last year. Does your doctor ever tell you not take antibiotics unless you absolutely have to? Well, apparently there is a reason: "It kind of ended up being an overgrowth of a yeast or a bad bacteria in my body that was a repercussion from having taken all those antibiotics over the years." We're excited she's back as it makes the women's 1,500 even more exciting, but we just hope she doesn't run 50-flat in the 400.

We 100% Agree
Nick Symmonds Says Athletes Need To Stop Being Lazy And 100% Self-Focused & Start Promoting The Sport "I’m calling myself out here. I was as lazy as anyone. For the last six years, I was content to train hard, hide in my house and rest between workouts, and do little to nothing to engage our fans and grow our fan base. I figured that I was doing enough by just training hard and running fast. I no longer feel that way." Nick must have been reading LRC of late, as we've been saying for months that the everyone in track (US Open/MSG People) and the whole world needs to stop doing what is only in their best interest and think about something larger than themselves.

Virgin London Does It Again!!!

Way Harder To Win Than The Olympics
Emmanuel Mutai To Try To Defend London Title Against World Record Holder Patrick Makau & Slew Of Other Top African Talent In addition to those two, 5-time world marathon champ Martin Lel will compete. In total, a ridiculous 10 - yes, TEN - sub-2:05:30 guys are in it.
*Race Takes Place Exactly 16 Weeks Before Olympics

US Women's Olympic Trials Marathon News *LRC Vote Totals *Men's Results *Women's Results *Yahoo Flash Photos

Flanagan Over Davila, Goucher Gets Third As Top 4 All Break Old OTrials Record Flanagan (2:25:38) pulled away from Davila (2:25:55) and Goucher was third in 2:26:06. Amy Hastings broke the old Trials record at 2:27:17 but didn't make the team. Deena Kastor was 6th in 2:30:40.

• New: Amy Hastings Reacts To Fourth Place Finish Obviously disappointed, but a good run for Amy.
• Post-Race Reaction None of the four former Olympic marathoners in the race made the team. Hear from the top 3 and them.
• Women's Results
• Goucher: "I never imagined myself winning this race based on the short period of time I had to train." Oregonian
• Washington Post Recap Of Trials
• Deena: "I have no idea. This was not in my plans ... I really thought I was going to book my ticket to London today." MB Thread: Will Deena Kastor retire now?

Sunday Houston

Luke Puskedra Runs 1:01:36 Half Marathon Debut As Feyisa Lilesa Picks Up $17,500 With 59:26 Course Record The Oregon Duck's half marathon debut was super-impressive on a day where all 4 course records were broken in Houston (Tariku Jufar 2:06:51, Alemitu Abera 2:23:14 and Belaynesh Oljira 1:08:26 outkicking Boston Champ Caroline Kilel). Recap and interview with Puskedra on his decision to try a half in the college season.
More: IAAF Recap Interesting to note that Tariku Jufar missed basically a year of training in 2009 after being hit by a car while training.
*All Four Records Broken In Houston

International XC Track News *Yahoo Photos From Seville

Vivian's Win Streak Comes To An End: Linet Masai Crushes Cheruiyot In Seville XC Vivian's last lost was in an XC race to Masai in Nairobi a year ago.

2012 BUPA Edinburgh XC Race *Leading Results *Video Highlights *Start Lists *Meet Website

Asbel Kiprop Makes A Statement As Kenenisa Bekele Finishes A Distant 11th At BUPA Great Edinburgh Cross-Country Kiprop, the Olympic 1,500 champion, cruised to victory over the 2008 Olympic steeple, 5k and 10k champs, and showed he's intent on being the first since Seb Coe to defend an Olympic 1,500 title. European XC champ Fionnuala Britton won the women's title.
*IAAF Recap: Kiprop Totally Dominant On Last Lap
*Bekele Suffers But Seems Unfazed How bad was Bekele? Well, 5 Brits beat him, including one who was doubling back from the 8k, but Bekele was confident afterwards: "I'm not serious for this race. At this time of the year I don't want to be in very good shape. It is too early. It is a long time to the Olympics. I want to build up slowly."
*Bekele: "I lack fitness." "I was not confident before the race. But it's a long time until the Olympics and it is too early to be in better shape."

Great Marathon News

• Defending Champions Geoffrey Mutai And Caroline Kilel Will Try To Defend Their Crowns At The 2012 Boston Marathon
• 2012 ING New York City Marathon Will Be Broadcast Live On ESPN2 ESPN/NY execs, please let us consult and help you with your broadacst. We will do it for free in year 1. Our first advice will be to tell you who not to hire as broadcasters. It's amazing how little info has been shown when Boston has been on ESPN. Email us here.

The Weeks That Were

LRC Tirunesh Dibaba Returns, Dunbar Follows In His Dad's Footsteps & Meb Tries To Make The Olympic Team On 41 Days Of Running In case you've been (like us) more focused on the Holidays than keeping on top of the limited action in the world of running over the last two weeks, we are here for you. From the return of Tirunesh Dibaba to Meb trying to make the Olympic team off of 41 days of running to some high-profile transfers, we've got you covered.

2011 NCAAs Are History *Men's Results *Women's Results *Entire Race Video Replays

Women: LRC Georgetown, Reid Win Tight Battles Six women kicked for home over the last 400m of the race but in the end it turned into the duel many expected and Sheila Reid of Villanova got the narrow win over Jordan Hasay. The big surprise was in the team's race, where the Georgetown women, who were only third at Big East, won by eight over Washington as #1 Florida State faltered and finished 4th. *Discuss

More: *Georgetown Gets Its First National XC Title GUHoyas.com
*Washington Comes Up 8 Points Short GoHuskies.com
*#1 FSU Finishes 4th & Coach Karen Harvey Pulls No Punches "I felt like I was watching a nightmare. I really thought there was no way this is happening." www.seminoles.com
*Wetmore Says 11th-Placed Colorado Women Purposely Peaked For PAC-12s, Not NCAAs www.denverpost.com
*The FSU Women Finished Fourth And The Men 12th At NCAA Cross-Country Championships www.seminoles.com
*Lananna Says Hasay's Runner-Up Finish Was A Big Step Forward As She Didn't Get Antsy & Kick Too Early www.oregonlive.com

2011 ING NYC Marathon *Men's Results *Women's Results *Viewing Info *Flash Yahoo Photos

LRC 2:05:06!!! Geoffrey Mutai Caps Year In Style An unbelievable year in men's marathoning had an appropriate finish, as the Kenyan man who had the most unbelievable of all years, Geoffrey Mutai, smashed the previous NYC Marathon record by a stunning 2:38 - that's two minutes and 38 seconds. If it wasn't the greatest 2nd-greatest men's marathon performance ever, you'll have to tell us what was. American Meb Keflezighi hung with the leaders for 20 miles after a blistering 63:16 1st half and ended up with a much-deserved PR. Mutai picked up $200,000 by winning, but the big financial winner was runner-up Emmanuel Mutai, who won $635,000 ($500,000 for the WMM title).

LRC Mary Keitany Beats Herself The women's race was full of gut-wrenching drama, as Mary Keitany went out in a crazy 67:56. The problem was she came back in 74:42, as unheralded Firehiwot Dado (Rome Marathon champ) got the win.

LRC Post-Race Interviews: Meb And His Coach Bob Larsen Talks About His PR Despite Throwing Up Plus the winners - Geoffrey Mutai, Firehiwot Dado, men's and women's top 3, Ed Moran, Molly Pritz, Lauren Fleshman and Bobby Curtis.